Hpaung Daw U Pagoda, Inle Lake

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda, also known as Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, is a Buddhist temple located on the shore of Inle Lake in the hills of Shan State in Myanmar. The temple is very important to Burmese Buddhists who come to worship here and give offerings to the 5 Buddha images for which the temple is famous. Hpaung Daw U Pagoda is open every day from 08:00 to 18:00 and admission is free.

About Hpaung Daw U Pagoda

The 5 Buddha images which are housed at Hpaung Daw U Pagoda are believed to have been taken there by King Sithu I in the 12th Century. King Sithu I was a prolific builder of religious monuments, most notably Thatbyinnyu Temple in Bagan, making him a likely candidate as the source of the Buddha Statues at Hpaung Daw U Pagoda. The pagoda itself is topped by a gold stupa with the inside of the temple covered with paintings of the story of the life of the Buddha. In the centre of the temple is an ornate shrine where the 5 statutes are placed. The statues are different sizes from 22 cm to 46 cm tall. Devotees come to the temple to place gold leaf on the statues which makes recognising the image depicted in the statues very difficult because of the amount if gold leaf placed on top.

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda near Inle Lake

The busiest time of the year at Hpaung Daw U Pagoda is during the 18 day festival celebrated during the 7th month of the Burmese lunar calendar, which occurs during October and November each month. During this festival 4 of the 5 Buddha statues are taken around Inle Lake on on an ornate barge which is towed by local leg rowers in traditional boats. The statues spend a night in each of 14 villages before being taken to the main temple in Nyaung Shwe where large numbers of people come to worship. The reason only 4 of the 5 statues are taken at any one time relates to a legend that in 1965 the boat carrying all 5 statues capsized and 1 of the statues could not be found by the people who dived into the water after them. The lost statue is said to have miraculously reappeared at the shrine at Hpaung Daw U Pagoda and it has left there ever since whilst the other 4 statues are taken on the annual parade.